


mere

by waterlantern



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, The Iliad - Homer
Genre: Vague reference to sex, mildly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-12 06:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13542111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterlantern/pseuds/waterlantern
Summary: for all the gods behind the battlefieldsthose that fought were human





	1. not his war

his brother had brought a bride home. finally.

he had only caught a glimpse of the woman tugged into their home. fair skin and fair hair, cerulean eyes flashing. 

" _stolen_ ,"  the women hissed.  " _wedded_."

" _promised_ " , his brother returned.

she had tilted her chin to look down on them all, hair spilling over her shoulder.  "l _oved_ ",  those lovely lips shaped.

oh, loved alright. he had heard of his brother's judgement of the goddesses, his promised beauty. 

he only wished the bride had chosen to come.

" _war_ ,"  the wind whispered, setting a shiver down his spine.  " _vengeance._ "

his baby brother had not emerged from his rooms since he returned. moans and whispers traveled down the halls.

war was coming, and the reason for it languished in his home.

" _a thousand ships_ ,"  they said. " _greatest heroes of the age come to reclaim a treasure_."

councils and arguments he sat through, mentions of allies from far away. " _warrior women. kings_."

a great hero sat waiting for a war he wished he had no part in.

an afternoon he devoted to his wife, his son. the whispers of war had shaken her too, they spent hours trying to pretend otherwise. forced laughter sounded until they found reason to forget. his child looked between them, but laughed anyway.

he spent the night breathing pleasure into his wife, his love, his other half. an evening spent shaking, a night spent between the thighs of his lover. silken hair brushed his chest in time with heavy breaths. at his release he pressed his face into her neck. still trembling from pleasure, breathing in her scent. war was coming, and he needed her to know he loved her.

_love_ , they said. he knew _love_ , knew it in the smile of andromache and the shape of their son. knew it in cassandra walking down the halls and his parents on their thrones. knew it in alexander, and the men he called brothers. knew he would go to the edge of the earth for them, and even further.

but he wondered how far he would go for a love that was not his.

the greeks ground their prows into trojan sand, and fear rippled to the walls.  a thousand ships, rammed into land he had sworn to protect.  kings and heroes and soldiers filled the beach. he wondered where the room for allies to land was.

a great city of trade hushed by the army at its gates. traders from leagues away and people outside the city held their breaths. war was  loud, in the frantic shouts of men in the city, the laughter and roars that rose from the beach. hamlets disappeared as the army found its motivation.

alexander and his stolen bride had yet to emerge.

a duel offered, between his baby brother and an enraged king. peace promised, whoever won. yet whispers of war had changed to  siege , and nerves wore thin as the hours went by. alexander, still lacing up his trousers. a sword picked up, a long fight. yet his brother lost. a king's blade gleaming, poised to kill, yet a goddess came and spirited alexander away. 

siege it was, then.

he wondered why his brother refused to fight in a war he had caused.

he stood behind the gates in front of the men he was to lead. facing the men he was to kill. lead them out to draw lines in the sand. lead them to kill faceless men he knew not, and then some he had heard of. he fought to protect the walls of his city, from kings to soldiers to heroes. he had not seen his wife in weeks. 

_achilles, odysseus, ajax, diomedes_ ,  said the whispers. the great heroes of the age come to fight. the men he faced became forgettable.

from time to time he caught glimpses of his family, patrolling the walls. seconds spent fighting with foreign kings and a queen, before they retreated or died. the seventh summer since the siege began was approaching. a few nights spent with his queen as his son stretched over years. still he fought. he fought for his family now, for the peace they wanted. still the war bore on.

he had killed so many, yet finally it was too much. a man named patroclus, he gleaned from the cries. he was so tired. heroes he had slain, but finally, this was too much.  achilles,  the men whispered .  they parted in the path of the hero. he turned to flee, his lover and their child heavy on his thoughts. three times he looped his city, but achilles was not to  be shaken off. a promise of a body returned to his family. 

_ rest. _

 


	2. helen (first)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> helen was stolen  
> she hadn't eloped, hadn't chosen to leave.  
> she was born of sparta and would die of sparta  
> women knew duty better than men

she was the greatest beauty of the world. the songs they sang lauded of her beauty and her lineage, and nothing else. she supposed that all she was to the rest of the world was a pretty face. sired by the king of the gods, they cried, yet never compared to the heroes that shared her divine lineage. her only asset was her beauty, and she was never allowed to forget it.

helen of troy, the sang, even though she was queen long before she was of troy, taken, a prize promised.

in her youth, rumours of her beauty had brought suitors from around the world. dark-skinned men kissing her knuckles. huge men with braids from the north caressing her face. women, bright in their beauty and their wits. 

she only had eyes for menelaus.

strong, gruff and tall he was, disgraced royalty seeking redemption. yet his manner belayed none of the shame that haunted the men lurking at the edges of the court. his laughter often filled the palace, and she began to wish her father would choose this one. 

when odysseus declared that an oath to be sworn to her, she paled. she would become a cause of war, she knew, had known since she learned her father had been god of gods. 

the method to choose her king had  been announced . straws drawn, the winner to take her hand. when the men gathered in the halls to compete for her hand in  a game of chance , she retired to her rooms. 

when menelaus drew her straw, she felt none of the elation she anticipated. he would become the king to her queen, joining her in ruling a state so beautiful she would die to keep it safe. 

she decided would be a dutiful queen to her king, loyal to her father's decision.

books piled up in her rooms, of strategy, of warfare, of how to hide the worst intentions behind a pretty smile. prayers to the goddesses to grant fortune, sparta's wealth and long lives for all her suitors. she would be of sparta before she was of anything.

the full moon of the first month was set aside for her to  be given to menelaus.

on the first of the days she was to  be wed , she spent with her family.  her engaged had been in the fringes, but her day had  been dominated by her father's laughter, her mother's hugs, and visits to the temples sacrificing the last of her childhood .

the dawn of the second day, she  was awoken by her mother.  maidservants arranged her hair into coils piled on her head, dressed her in the finest the world had to offer . whispered of the wedding night, and giggles amongst themselves.

her mother had taken her aside, to remind her that she was born of sparta and a god, and she would remain of sparta. that a king was nothing without a queen. that enduring a marriage would be the best she could hope for if she did not please her husband.

enough ceremonies to make her dizzy passed in a blur. kneeling at the temple with her new husband, praying for long life, her people's welfare, a  just rule. menelaus removing her veil, smiling  reassuringly . gentle, ever so careful. ' _he's so handsome when he smiles._ ' 

the third day, she spent farewelling guests. suitors that had become friends over the months wished her well.  kings and queens come to celebrate the marriage, inclining their heads and sending her secret smiles . priestesses blessing her with happy marriage. throughout it all, menelaus stayed by her side, gentle and supportive. he had asked her to teach him the ways of court the moment they had been alone. he clapped blood-brothers on the back, jests with boys growing into manhood. his laughter boomed.

 

she did not love him yet, but she liked him. love would have to come later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thankyou to anyone who reads this  
> im aware a lot of this stuff is probably not what happened either in history or real life  
> i have no idea when i began this, and was so sleep deprived i was probably catatonic, but hey  
> my main source was wikipedia, but if you have any information that you feel this story would be better with, please comment  
> (that one kudos was rlly great, thankyou person who i will never know that thought i could write well)

**Author's Note:**

> i havent actually read any of homer's epics or the legit stuffs, so most of this is from more recent reworkings of the stories or wikipedia  
> its kind of all over the place but hey  
> not edited by anyone else and probably not going to be


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